Australian crake | |
---|---|
In New South Wales, Australia | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Gruiformes |
Family: | Rallidae |
Genus: | Porzana |
Species: | P. fluminea |
Binomial name | |
Porzana fluminea Gould, 1843 | |
The Australian crake (Porzana fluminea), also known as Australian spotted crake, or spotted crake is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. [2] It is the only species of Australian crake in the genus Porzana . [3] [4]
The Australian crake was formally described in 1843 by the English ornithologist John Gould and given the binomial name Porzana fluminea. He specified the type locality as New South Wales. [6] [7] The specific epithet is from Latin flumineus meaning "riverine" (from flumen meaning "river"). [8] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. [9]
The Australian crake measures 19–23 cm (7.5–9.1 in) in length, weighs 55–70 g (1.9–2.5 oz) and has a wingspan of 27–33 cm (11–13 in). [10] [11] It is similar in appearance and behaviour to Baillon's crake ( Porzana pusilla ), but the Australian crake is stockier and darker overall and lacks the distinctive barred undertail of the Baillon's crake ( Porzana pusilla ). [11] The Australian crake has a sooty face with steel-blue/dark grey breast, belly and throat. Brown upperparts, including the crown, are streaked black and white, with barred black and white flanks. [2] [3] Shorter undertail coverts are black and longer undertail coverts are white, forming a distinctive upside down V when tail is cocked. [2] [12] The outermost primaries have a distinctly white leading edge that is visible during flight. [10] The bill is yellow-green with red base to upper mandible and measures 1.8–2.1 cm (0.71–0.83 in). [13] Legs and feet are also yellow-green and the iris is red. [3] [2] [12] While Gould asserted in The Birds of Australia (Gould) that "the sexes present so little difference in colour, that they are only to be distinguished by dissection", [14] it can be noted that the female is slightly smaller and paler than male with a brown stripe across upper lores and more defined white spots on breast and neck. [10] Immature birds are paler again with white fringed plumage on belly and breast appearing like muted barring. [10] [3] Juveniles are similar to adults but lack the steel-blue/dark grey plumage and instead have brown and white speckled underparts, as well as a brown iris and no red on bill. Chicks have very plumulaceous black feathers with a deep green hue and a distinctive, red blaze to base of upper mandible. [12]
Endemic to Australia, the Australian crake can be found throughout southeast and Western Australia. It is less common in Tasmania and tropical areas of northern Australia. [3] The Australian crake lives in both coastal and inland habitats in freshwater, brackish, marine and terrestrial environments where it prefers densely vegetated areas of marshes, swamps, estuaries and saltmarshes that support lignum, chenopods, rushes and sedges. [3] [16] [13] [12] Distribution and movement is dependent on water conditions, so following periods of high rainfall, range can extend inland to areas like Alice Springs/Mparntwe. [3]
Foraging often occurs in pairs, family groups and sometimes, when food is abundant, in large groups of up to 100 individuals. [10] Densely vegetated areas amongst reeds, on mudflats or in shallow water (below 5 cm in depth) are favoured, where a variety of foods are enjoyed including; aquatic plants, algae, seeds, molluscs, crustaceans, spiders, tadpoles and insects, both adult and larval, in orders including Dermaptera, Orthoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera. [17] [13] [10] These birds forage by probing the ground, wading and swimming, submerging their heads underwater and knocking larger food items against the ground by the water's edge. [10]
Breeding occurs between August–February. [13] Nests are often over or beside water 2–50 cm (0.79–19.69 in) above waterline within reeds, rushes, grasses and low shrubs. Additional nesting materials of rushes or grasses are laid over the nest in an inverted dome shape, and foliage is often flattened in an approach-ramp or stage leading up to the nest. [17] [13] Nests of individual mating pairs are often found together, with as many as 30 individual nests in a group. [10] Clutches are of 3-6 eggs that are pale brown with dark brown, red-brown and black spots. The eggs are incubated by both parents. The young are precocial and nidifugous. Both sexes accompany the young. [18]
Although the Australian crake is listed as Least Concern, habitat loss, invasive and feral animals, agriculture and livestock grazing and climate change are threats to this species and the conservation of wetlands is fundamental to the survival of this species. [19]
The spotted crake is a small waterbird of the family Rallidae. The scientific name is derived from Venetian terms for small rails.
The little crake is a very small waterbird of the family Rallidae. parva is Latin for "small". This species was long included in the genus Porzana.
Baillon's crake, also known as the marsh crake, is a small waterbird of the family Rallidae.
Porzana is a genus of birds in the crake and rail family, Rallidae. Its scientific name is derived from Venetian terms for small rails. The spotted crake is the type species.
The African rail is a small wetland bird of the rail family that is found in eastern and southern Africa.
The African crake is a small- to medium-size ground-living bird in the rail family, found in most of central to southern Africa. It is seasonally common in most of its range other than the rainforests and areas that have low annual rainfall. This crake is a partial migrant, moving away from the equator as soon as the rains provide sufficient grass cover to allow it to breed elsewhere. There have been a few records of vagrant birds reaching Atlantic islands. This species nests in a wide variety of grassland types, and agricultural land with tall crops may also be used.
Laterallus is a genus of birds in the rail family Rallidae. These small, relatively short-billed terrestrial rails are found among dense vegetation near water in the Neotropics, although a single species, the black rail, also occurs in the United States.
The black-banded crake is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
The white-throated crake is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela.
The grey-breasted crake is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay.
The red-and-white crake is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
The rufous-faced crake is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay.
The spotted rail is a species of bird in the subfamily Rallinae of the rail, crake, and coot family Rallidae. It is found in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.
Pardirallus is a genus of bird in the family Rallidae. It contains three species native to marshland areas of Southern, Central America and the Caribbean, although fossil evidence indicates they once ranged north to what is now Idaho. They are 25–38 cm long and have a long greenish bill and reddish legs. The spotted rail is blackish-brown with white markings while the other two are brown above and dark grey below.
The ash-throated crake is a species of bird in the subfamily Rallinae of the rail, crake, and coot family Rallidae. It is found in every mainland South American country except Chile.
The white-browed crake is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It is found in Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Fiji, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, India, Malaysia, Micronesia, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Thailand, and Vanuatu.
The dot-winged crake is a vulnerable species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay.
The spotless crake is a species of bird in the rail family, Rallidae. It is widely distributed species occurring from the Philippines, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand across the southern Pacific Ocean to the Marquesas Islands to the south east along the Tuamotus island chain to Pitcairn Oeno island,
Rallina is a genus of bird in the rail family, Rallidae. It contains four species found in forest and marshland in Asia and Australasia. They are 18–34 cm long and mainly chestnut or brown, often with black and white markings.
Zapornia is a recently revalidated genus of birds in the rail family Rallidae; it was included in Porzana for much of the late 20th century. These smallish to tiny rails are found across most of the world, but are entirely absent from the Americas except as wind-blown stray birds. A number of species, and probably an even larger number of prehistorically extinct ones, are known only from small Pacific islands; several of these lost the ability to fly in the absence of terrestrial predators. They are somewhat less aquatic than Porzana proper, inhabiting the edges of wetlands, reedbelts, but also drier grass- and shrubland and in some cases open forest.